Gregor the Overlander II: Daughter of the Comet
by RowanAsterCode
Summary: About a year after Gregor came home from the Underland, he's back- and a lot has happened. His family's missing, he's lost some of his memory to a strange occurance, and a new prophecy's been discovered! Now, Halley suddenly appears- and she may have a bigger role than she believes... GregorxHalley- sorry, no Gluxa T for action/romance/usage of the word crap, please read. *HIATUS*
1. Prelude

Prelude-

_Gregor_

"Thank you, Luxa," I said. "Thanks a lot."  
"Thanks is not necessary," she replied.  
"Yes, it is. You gave Boots and I a home again."  
Yes, this is Gregor. Yes, I still call my little sister Boots.  
And yes, you heard me right. I was back in the Underland, and was staying… with Luxa.  
I know it sound weird for a thirteen-year-old boy to be staying with a thirteen-year-old girl and/or queen, but life had Not. Been. Good. Well, at least since we were back in the Overland, er... New York City.  
I shuddered, remembering.  
Mom had still insisted we pack up and move to Virgina, and, honestly, I was not in the mood to argue with her. No one was. We had called our relatives that morning, and they said they were ready for us. A bus and a plane ride later, we arrived at their house, only to find it trashed... And stormed by rats. The UNDERLAND kind.  
Before I could even comprehend what was happening, they spotted us. Everything else was a blur. I obviously couldn't go into rager mode. I remembered clutching Boots, reaching desperately for a weapon, something, ANYTHING; then being woken up by a ticked-off Ripred, still with Boots in my arms, Lizzie, Mom, and Dad all missing.  
Ripred brought us back to the Underland (remember those tunnels that I personally never used? One of them was under my Uncle's house), and we talked to Luxa almost immediately after we got there. She and Vikus agreed to send out a search party, but Luxa queenily forbid me to join them, because someone was obviously after me... Or anyone in my family.  
That was three months ago.  
No, they haven't found anyone. Anywhere. The only place left is the most uncharted area of what used to be the uncharted lands.  
Oh, and did I mention Grandma died just after I returned from the Underland?  
So now we were living with Luxa.  
Luxa saw the look on my face. "Don't worry, Gregor," she said. "We will-"  
She was cut off by Boots holding her head and screaming.  
"Boots, what's-" I started asking, going to ask what's wrong, but then I felt an immense pain in my head. I knew why Boots was doing it now.  
Luxa was already on the ground, screaming. I collapsed next to her.  
I figured she passed out after she stopped screaming.  
No, I never actually screamed like they did, if you were wondering. I guess my voice disappeared when my head started throbbing.  
Then I was the one weaving in and out of conciousness. I saw bits and peices of what was happening around me, but none of it made sense (probably because the head pain had a similar effect to being drugged).  
I saw Luxa moving slightly, then Vikus crouching over us.  
I saw a white room, similar to the one my mom was in.  
I saw another underlander woman injecting me with something. Subconsciously, I turned away from her. "It's okay," she said. "It's just to help you recover."  
When I finally awoke for good, both Luxa and Vikus were standing near the foot of my bed.  
"Oh, Gregor!" exclaimed Luxa. "You had us all worried when you didn't wake up with the rest of us!"  
"Boots..." I mumbled. Then I realized who I was thinking about.  
I sat bolt upright. "Where's Boots!?"  
"Don't worry," said Vikus. "She's in the nursery with Dulcet and Hazard. But she was asking where you were earlier."  
I fell back on the bed. "Thank goodness."  
"So, Gregor..." said Vikus, pausing nervously, "do you, maybe, not remember something?"  
"What?"  
"When I went to check on Luxa, she was frightened because she couldnt remember... Well, um... I guess it's up to her to tell you what, but-"  
"The prophecies and their quests," she whispered. "Gregor, I couldn't remember any of our adventures."  
"What?" I said frantically. I dug into my memory. I knew where they were supposed to be, but... The actual memories... They had disappeared.  
"Oh, gosh... Oh my gawd..."  
"They disappeared for you, too?" asked Vikus. I nodded frantically.  
"I supposed that I should have guessed. I had been in the prophecy room at the same time as I assumed you passed out, and there was an earthquake. A tunnel opened, and inside... Highness; Overlander... There were more prophecies."  
I shuddered. "Involving... The warrior?"  
"No, Gregor- not as the most major person, at least," replied Vikus. "Involving someone called the Daughter of the Comet."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- 

_Halley_

"Halley! Time for dinner!" yelled my mom. "You, too, Fate! 'Leio!"  
I'm Halley. Fate's my sister, and Galileo's my brother.  
I was upstairs reading 'Gregor and the Code of Claw' in my bedroom when mom called me down for dinner.  
"Coming, Mom!" I yelled, trying desperately hard to read quickly, but also savor, the last three pages.  
I couldn't help thinking, That's it? That's all Suzanne Collins wrote? It CAN'T be over!  
I sighed and slammed the book down on my desk. Really? REALLY? Worst. Ending. Ever.  
I mean, it didn't tell you if Gregor moved to Virginia or not, it didn't tell you if he ever went back to Regalia, it didnt even tell you if he and Luxa ever saw each other again!  
Grrrrrrr…  
"Hallllleeeeyyyyy!" yelled Galileo.  
"I'm comin, I'm comin!"  
I'm gonna write Suzanne Collins tonight and give her a peice of my-  
"HALLEY!"  
"Be right there! Yeesh!"  
I stormed downstairs, taking deep breaths, trying to calm down.  
I smiled at the pretty picture in front of me- a nice family sitting down for dinner: the father, a high school astronomy teacher; the mother, a world-renouned astronomy textbook writer; the (barely) eldest brother, a thirteen year old boy with a firey attitude and a full scholarship to a prestigious prep school; the eldest sister (unseen, looking on), a thirteen year old girl who's a natural at science and karate, and really good at writing, as well (hehehe); and the youngest sister, a seven year old girl who is still absorbed in princesses and fairy tales.  
Then the pretty still picture broke.  
"THERE you are!" yelled Galileo.  
"I've been here for, like, five minutes," I commented.  
Then the entire family broke into conversation: Mom and Dad compairing astronomy notes, Galileo drilling me with a lecture about being on time, and Fate begging me to play princesses with her.  
Yep, the perfect picture was definately broken.

"This is my stop," said Aria.  
"Okay," I replied. "Meet you here tomorrow?"  
"Sorry- I gotta be at school early for Jazz Band."  
"Ohmigosh- I totally forgot! Tomorrow's tuesday, isn't it? Of course it is, you have Jazz. I totally forgot to practice my clarinet solo for orchestra! And to practice violin! I've got my first time playing it in front of people tomorrow! Oh, gosh!" I sighed. "Well, I'd better go- I gotta pick up Fate still. See ya!"  
I sped away- hey, Aria had to get to her piano lesson, anyway.  
Oh, and in case you're wondering, Aria is my BFF who has this weird habit of puncuating every scentence by messing with her long black hair.  
I hummed to myself as I took off down the path. Laa la la laa laaa laa laa laa laa laa la.  
I pulled out my phone and texted Fate.  
HEY FATE ALMOST THERE TELL MRS. K BYE AND MEET ME OUTSIDE. -HaLLeY  
The HaLLeY was my signature.  
I almost didnt notice that I had stepped onto one of those giant sewer grates that I hated. I always thought they were gonna break beneath my feet, even though I didnt weigh much.  
It did exactly the thing I was worried about.  
I felt a small tremor coming from the ground, and the gate broke under me.  
I screamed as I fell down into the dark hole. I fell for what seemed like hours, and never hit a single thing.  
This is it, I thought. I'm dead.  
Then I noticed a torch, like the ones I thought they used in Gregor the Overlander.  
No, I realized. I'm not dead. I'm dreaming.  
I must have fallen through the sewer grate, and hit my head on something. That makes MUCH more sense!  
I finally saw ground, and landed with a thud.  
"Ow..."  
I heard a click behind me and turned around.  
"Oh, wow..."  
Behind me was... A GIANT COCKROACH!  
"Overlander, you be, Overlander?" it said.  
Wait a second... IT SPOKE?!  
I was very close to hyperventilating at that point.  
"Overlander, you be, Overlander?" it repeated.  
"Um..." I mumbled. "Hi?"  
"Name you, Overlander, name you?"  
"Um... My name?Um- I'm, um, Halley."  
"Comet, like the, comet?"  
A ripple went through the walls, and they... Moved.  
Then, cockroaches climbed down. The walls had been covered by them.  
All of them were mumbling the words 'comet' and 'prophecy' and 'no'.  
"Hmm, typically by now, the dream's shifted..." I mumbled. This dream was getting a little weird.  
"Underlanders, take you, Underlanders?" asked the lead cockroach.  
"Underlanders... As in, in Regalia?"  
Another nervous ripple went through the crowd.  
"Regalia, take you, Regalia?"  
"Um, yeah, I guess."  
"On, Overlander get, on."  
"Um, yeah, okay, sure."  
I looked at him… er, her… er, IT. How was I...  
It knelt down in front of me. Well, that answers that.  
I slowly climbed on, being careful not to hurt...  
"What's your name, by the way?" I asked.  
"I be, Bizz, I be," replied the cockroach.  
I vaguely remembered Boots calling them "beeg bugs", and smiled at the thought. 'Big' was the understatement of the year.  
Then another thought went through my mind. I shivered. If the cockroaches were this big, and the rats were huge compared to them, then just how big were the rats?  
I wasn't sure I wanted to find out.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- 

_Halley_

Bizz started moving, and again I started daydreaming about Regalia.  
Wait... How was I daydreaming in a dream?  
And on that point, how did I have control over what I did and thought? How could I even THINK in a dream?  
And how was this dream progressing so slowly? It typically only put me in the really important parts!  
Too much to think about...  
Then an idea popped into my head. What if this... WASN'T a dream?  
"Don't be ridiculous!" I whispered to myself. "This is a dream, and you know it!"  
The cockroaches suddenly came to a stop.  
I looked up. And did a double-take. And another double-take.  
Where were the intricate stone buildings? The lanterns? The… the Underlanders?  
"Bizz, I think you've got this wrong. I thought you said you were taking me to Regalia."  
"No, Overlander, No," He replied.  
"What?"  
"Off, Overlander, off."  
"Oh, um, okay…"  
I tenderly slid off Bizz's back.  
"Where are we, Bizz?" I asked as I looked around me. No answer. "Bizz?" I pivoted on my feet. The cockroaches… were gone.

I waited for what felt like hours. It was dark, but not as dark as it says in Gregor the Overlander. Maybe there was a lantern nearby, but not in plain sight. I could see I was in a cave, but I couldnt find my way out. There was only one exit, and it led into a maze. So, I sat leaning towards the wall, seriously wanting to believe it was a dream, but starting to doubt that theory- a LOT...  
I heard something from the entrance.  
I scrambled up. "Bizz?" I called. "Is that you?"  
It was probably NOT the smartest idea to do that.  
I heard a cackle. It was low and raspy, like... Like a male witch's, I guess.  
I immediately reached for the flashlight I had clipped on my backpack, which was originally a monument to Gregor, very greatful I had it.  
I was right to be worried about how big the rats were.  
"Well, what have we here?" asked the first rat, walking into my flashlight beam.  
"An Overlander, no doubt," replied the second, revealing itself also. "And a young one, at that!"  
The first rat chomped down on my long, brown hair that matched his fur perfectly. One thought went through my head: Luxa was right about long hair in the Underland.  
"Let me go!" I yelled.  
"Ooh, not afraid to talk, eh?" said the grey rat, the second one, looking into my ice blue eyes. "Just like Gregor, this one. Feisty. Typically, all we get from little girls like you are squeals and screams."  
"L... LITTLE girls?!" I said through gritted teeth. "No one. Calls. Me. LITTLE!"  
I jabbed my elbow into the brown rat's eye, and he let go. I put my backpack in front of me as the grey rat lunged at me, and he flew backwards.  
I felt a sting on my arm, and it quickly grew into a sharp pain. I looked down, and my arm was bleeding.  
Oh, my god, I thought. This is real. This isn't a dream.  
I'm actually in the Underland.  
I heard more scampering, and pivoted in a full circle around me. More rats. Lots more.  
I backed up against the wall, the sensation of being called 'little' over.  
"Hm," said a black rat in the front of the crowd- should I say, army- "Just like the prophecy. Strong, then weak. Like the comet… Halley."  
I flinched. They knew more than I expected.  
"It'll be nice not to let that prophecy come to fruition!"  
I pinched my eyes closed, bracing for impact, knowing full well that the first thing they'd do was attack me.  
Nothing happened.  
I opened my eyes slowly. A single rat was standing in front of me, blocking off the attacks from the others.  
"Don't worry, comet girl," he said between blocks, "I've got you covered!" He blocked another attack. "You're too valuable to lose."  
I caught a glimpse of his face. Two... Scars. Meeting in the middle. And the voice. That way of speaking. I should have known.  
"You're… Ripred."  
"No dip!" he replied. He probably learned that from Gregor.  
Gregor.  
All the people… from my favorite books… were… REAL.  
Even Gregor.  
I don't know why, but I blushed when I thought about him.  
It was just me being star-struck… wasn't it?  
Never mind. I don't wanna hear your answer.  
Anyway, Ripred had just totally destroyed all the rats thanks to his mad rager skills.  
He was waving his hand- er, paw- in front of my face. "Comet girl, snap out of it! The Underland is not a safe place to daydream!"  
I blushed. "Sorry."  
Ripred cocked his head, then did a rat-like smirk. "Thinking about our young Warrior, huh?"  
It was my turn to cock my head, then I remembered: the Warrior was Gregor. I blushed profusely. "Whaaaat?"  
"You said his name."  
"Oops."  
Ripred turned around, and got into classic rat position. "Get on, comet girl."  
"What?"  
"It wont be long before more rats show up to replace the dead ones, and unless you want to fight them on your own, I'd suggest getting on."  
"Um, yeah, okay," I replied. Brilliant answer, I'm a genius, I know. Hey, with the day I was having, I was lucky to know rat= bad- excluding Ripred- and Underlander= good.  
I slowly climbed on Ripred, being careful to avoid his tail. I somersaulted over it once when it twitched near me. Ripred gave me an odd look while I got on.  
He shook his head, and took off just as another rat face peeped out of the shadows, followed by a body, followed by an army more.  
"Ripred…!"  
He sprinted out of the cave and into the maze as the rats started chasing us.  
I tucked my head into his fur. I don't want to see any more blood today.  
A little while later, we slowed down. I peeked out of the endless grey fur.  
"Are they…," I ask, "gone?"  
"Yes, comet girl, the rats are gone. We lost them a while ago."  
"Oh. Okay."  
"So, I was wondering," Ripred asked as we picked up speed again, "How did you know about the Underland? And I was also curious as to what your name was."  
"Oh, I'm Halley. Like the comet. My brother's Galileo, and my sister's Fate. All astronomy names. You can thank my astronomer parents for that. And I knew about the Underland from books. The series is a NY times bestseller."  
"What?!" He yelled, suddenly stopping. "Who else knows about the Underland?"  
"Lots of people. It's almost famous. Especially now, since Suzanne Collins just had a movie made based on another one of her books. But everyone thinks its fiction." I paused for a moment. "You didn't know about it?"  
"Not one b…" he trailed off. "Rats."  
Sure enough, a rat snout appeared out of the tunnels mouth.  
"Hang on, Halley!" yelled Ripred, taking off.  
We ran around so many turns, I lost track of where we were. I didn't know how Ripred kept track of it all.  
I knew we lost the rats by then.  
Then Ripred crashed into something, and I went flying backwards off of him.  
I screamed.  
My back. I landed hard, and my back cracked big-time.  
I sat up, and my hand came off bloody. Great. I felt really dizzy.  
I saw Ripred. He was hurt and passed out, but nothing he couldn't recover from.  
Me, on the other hand…  
I was already seeing black spots.  
Then I saw a light. A warm light, like… a torch.  
"Help…," I croaked. "Help!"  
The light turned in our direction, and I saw white hair. Underlanders. Two went over to Ripred, and one came over to me.  
I only just realized I was lying on the floor again.  
"What happened?" asked a girl's voice. Funny, she looked like a boy…  
Then I realized who it was. I recognized the gold band on her head.  
"Luxa…" I mumbled.  
A tan boy walked out behind her. I recognized him, too. There were no tan Underlanders.  
The Warrior.  
He was Gregor.  
I mumbled a bunch of unintelligible stuff. Even I didn't know what I was saying.  
Then I blacked out.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3- Gregor

I lifted the girl up. I remember what it felt like to have your back injured. Her backpack was split, too. Maybe that had saved her.  
I didn't know why, but I stroked her hair away from her face, and smiled.  
I was just happy she was alive… right?  
She had obviously just gotten down here, and already she'd been through a lot.  
Her hair was broken on the ends, I noticed. Almost in the shape of a…  
I shivered.  
A rat's mouth.  
She'd been attacked by a rat.  
It would explain why Ripred was staying near her. He was protecting her.  
Maybe SHE was…  
"Ughh…"  
I turned around.  
Well, it looked like Ripred was awake.  
I shook my head.  
Luxa was still standing next to me, tapping her foot.  
"Sorry, what?" I asked.  
"I said," she replied, "What do you think she's doing here? She's obviously nothing but trouble. Why shouldn't we just leave her here?"  
"Because," Ripred said, slowly standing up, "You don't know just how important Halley'll be."  
"Halley?" I asked. "Like the comet?" Then I realized. "Daughter of the… Like the prophecy?"  
"No," said Luxa. "There are surely many more Halleys in the Overland. It must be nothing more than a coincidence."  
I kept my mouth shut. Let Ripred explain that Halley- spelt like that- wasn't such a common name. But I got this feeling…  
"She's it," I said.  
"WHAT?" yelled Luxa. "What do you mean? That is surely not possible!"  
Another one of the Underlanders that was with us, Atika, was the one to respond. "All too possible, highness."  
"YOUR highness!"  
"You're letting the queen thing get to your head. And I just know it, Luxa," I said. "She's the Daughter of the Comet. I can feel it. I know it's true."  
"What you 'feel' is eating too much shrimp in cream sauce before we left this morning!"  
"Aw, shaddup! You never know when we'll be stranded in the wilderness again without anything to eat, thank you very much!"  
I was gesturing wildly with my hands when I noticed. They were red. I gently laid Halley down and flipped her over. Her back was covered… in blood.  
"Oh, crud."  
I whistled, and Aurora, Nike, and a younger bat named Glenn flew over to us.  
I suddenly missed Ares more than ever. But I couldn't think about it right now. What was important was getting the girl- er, Halley- to the hospital before she bled to death.  
I lowered Halley onto Nike's fur and climbed on her back.  
"I'll be back in a little while, Luxa! Ripred! Nike, take us to the hospital, please, quick!"  
She took off.  
"Please, please don't die!" I said to Halley.  
I remembered from when Luxa was sick that you talk to the person to keep them from dying, so I started babbling.  
She turned over slowly, and opened her eyes slightly.  
"Oh, thank god," I said.  
"Gregor?" she asked lazily.  
I suppose I should have wondered how she knew who I was, but I was a little preoccupied with the fact that Halley was still alive.  
She winced, trying to sit up.  
"Maybe you should just keep lying down," I said.  
"Yeah, maybe," she replied, smiling weakly.  
We were silent for a few minutes, me looking up at the tunnels, then back at her, then repeating it a lot.  
I remember I was thinking something like this:  
WHEN WERE WE STINKIN GONNA GET TO REGALIA?! HALLEY WAS LOSING A LOT OF BLOOD HERE!  
Hey, it was what I was thinking!  
Then I saw it. Lanterns.  
"Woohoo!"  
"What?" Halley asked, jerking up, then groaning.  
"Are you okay?"  
"Yeah, just… what did you see?"  
"Regalia!" I did a mini happy dance.  
"Really?!"  
"Yes!"  
"Awesome!"  
She smiled, sighing.  
I noticed that she was getting really pale, so, naturally, I flipped out when she closed her eyes.  
"Don't you DARE die on me!"  
Her eyes sprang open. "Die? I'm just tired! It's like 4 am at home!"  
"Oh… okay," I smiled sheepishly. Oops. " I guess I'm on Underlander schedule."  
"Liar," she teased. "You were worried about me!"  
I blushed. "Actually, yes and no. I am on Underlander schedule, too."  
Then I realized: I was talking to her like I talked to Luxa- naturally. Like I had known her for a long time.… come to think of it, I remembered someone that looked an awful lot like her from when I was little.  
That's odd… er, weird… Gah, the Underlanders are rubbing off on me!  
When I tuned back in to reality, Halley was asleep. I smiled softly.  
WHAT THE HECK WAS WRONG WITH ME? I LIKE LUXA! WHY WAS I ACTING LIKE THIS FOR HALLEY?!  
Snap out of it. If they prophecy was right, she couldn't…  
No.  
Now's not the time to think about that, Gregor.  
Yes, it is.  
No, it's not.  
Yes.  
No.  
Stop. We were nearing Regalia now, anyway. I had to get Halley to the hospital.  
I heard frenzied shouts of "Look! There's Gregor!", "Who's on the bat with him?", and "Where's the rest of the expedition?"  
I tuned them out as Nike handed on the roof.  
As I climbed off, I said thanks to Nike for flying us here, and apologized for not talking to her much.  
"Don't worry, Gregor. Just get Comet girl to the infirmary!"  
Vikus walked out, waving. "Gregor! Welcome back!" He stopped when he saw Halley in my arms. "Who is this? And where's Luxa?"  
"Relax, Luxa's fine! But Halley's not. Will you help me get her to the hospital?"  
"Of course. And what did you say her name was? Halley? Like the …comet? Is she the one from the prophecy?"  
"Luxa doesn't seem to think so, but I do."  
"What happened to the child, out of curiosity?"  
"Honestly, I'm not sure. I've just figured out that she was attacked by a rat-" I showed Vikus a clump of her hair, "And Ripred found her somehow. When we found them, they were both out cold, bleeding. Not actually sure what happened in between those events, though."  
We finally got to the infirmary. Or hospital. You know what, it's both.  
The main doctor- it was a young woman named Gina that had replaced Neveeve- saw us walking in. She ran over, and asked us the inevitable: "What happened?"  
"We don't know," Vikus and I said in unison; me yelling, Vikus simply stating it.  
"Chill, Gregor!" she said. Did I forget to mention she was an Overlander, too? We've had a lot of Overlanders falling lately.  
"Sorry, sorry…"  
She led us to a room, and I laid Halley onto the bed.  
"What's her name?" asked Gina.  
"Halley," I replied.  
"Don't say anything to anyone, alright?" cut in Vikus.  
"Why would that be…" Then recognition flashed across her face. "Oh. My lips are sealed! Now, let's see the damage." She flipped Halley over, and gasped at the sight of all the blood.  
"You Underlanders and all your accidents. It's a wonder you survived this long without modern technology."  
Then she started blabbering on about all the medical stuff, and shooed us out of the room.  
She slammed the door in our faces.  
"Sheesh."  
"Agreed."  
I think it's obvious who said what.  
Since no one in the Underland knows what 'Sheesh' means, asides from Luxa and Vikus, but neither of them would use it.  
Nuff said.  
"So have you managed to regain any of your memory?"  
That caught me off guard.  
"Well, um, a little. But only scenes of me and Luxa, mainly."  
He sighed. "I wish more would have come from your attempts."  
"I know."  
We stopped talking. I crept back up to the window… and immediately wished I hadn't.  
Halley was on the bed-slash-table-slash-whatever, blood seeping through again, fast, with Gina sitting over her, operating, I guess.  
I almost puked from all the blood. Luckily, Vikus had seen it coming, and gently pulled me away from the window. I swallowed- followed by a dry heave.  
"Let's get you upstairs," said Vikus.  
I panicked. What if Halley woke up and I was asleep or something? Wait… Halley? Shouldn't I be more  
concerned I'd be asleep when LUXA came home? Something's wrong with me, isn't it? Nevermind that. I cant go up to my room!  
"Relax, Gregor," said Vikus, reading my thoughts. "Go get some sleep. I'll wake you when Luxa returns, or-" he winked "when Halley shows some improvement."  
Way too many questions popped into my head.  
"How- How did you… when di… but Lux… you won't te… you aren't mad, right?"  
"No, Gregor. I've been aware since you came home, and I won't tell Luxa. It's natural. I went through it, too. But if you dare hurt my granddaughter, I'll kick your arsenic."  
I laughed.  
"Thanks, Vikus."  
"Get a few hours of sleep, Gregor. See you then."


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: Wow, first ever author's note! Ok, since it is a fanfic, I'm going to clear some things up. 1. It is a fanfic. Most characters belong to Suzanne Collins. 2. Since it is a FANFIC, I'm changing a few things: a) Gregor the Overlander (the books?) came out AFTER the Hunger Games, not before. In this, like in 2010-2012, not 200_-200_. b) (though this isn't important yet) Stellovet is a lot older. She's like 35- old enough to be Halley's mom, if she married and had children really young... then again, I assume Underlanders do! And she's only 4th in line for the throne, too. And 3. (more about this chapter) There's a lot of use of the word "crap" in this chapter! Sorry if you don't like that!

ENJOY!

Chapter 4- Gregor

"I don't trust her, Gregor," warned Luxa.  
It was about three days after Vikus and I's conversation… and since Halley had been admitted to the hospital. She hadn't woken up since… until this morning. Luxa and I were running over there now.  
And, if you're wondering, Luxa had returned yesterday with no news… again.  
"She knows too much," Luxa was saying. "She knew who you were, she knew who Ripred was, she knew the crawlers were friends- until now, that is, and she knew I was Luxa, the queen!"  
"She said she read it in a book," said a voice behind us, making me jump. I pivoted quickly.  
"Hey, Ripred. A book?" I asked.  
"Yes. By someone named Suzanne Collins?"  
Uh-oh…  
I slammed into the door of Halley's room, not paying attention to where I was going.  
"Gregor, you fool, watch where you're going!" Luxa growled.  
"Not my fault… Since when was there a door here?"  
She shot me her signature, 'Really?', look.  
"Hey!"  
"Are we going to go in or not?" asked Ripred.  
"Hello…?" called a voice- I barely recognized it. It had been so strong and playful when I'd last heard it, even through pain. But now it was weak and scared.  
"Halley?" I asked, opening the door.  
"Gregor?" she said, relieved. She was sitting up in the bed, the sheets thrown off. "Phew, I thought it was… never mind. But what are you doing here?"  
"A-hem," coughed Luxa.  
"Y-your highness!" she said, surprised. She slid to the edge of the bed, trying to stand up. She lost her balance, almost falling.  
"Are you okay?" I asked, catching her.  
"Um… um… sorry… I… I…" she blushed.  
I laughed, which earned me a glare from her royal highness.  
"I'm okay." Halley slid out of my grip. "I think. Hello, Queen Luxa." She tried to curtsy- I think- only to wind up on the floor. "You know, it sucks to not be able to stand on your own two legs."  
Even Luxa couldn't help but smile.  
"Are you going to ask her or not?" said Ripred, spoiling the moment.  
"Ask me what?" she said, trying to stand, only to second-guess it and sit down again.  
"Halley…," I said slowly, "Where did you hear about the Underland?"  
"I told Ripred: a book series by Suzanne Collins."  
"Suzanne Collins?"  
"She's a famous author."  
Crap. Crap crappity crap crap.  
"Luckily, no one believes this is real, not even my…" She faltered. "Where's my backpack?"  
"What?"  
"Where is it?"  
"Over there." I gestured to the corner. "Why?"  
Before I had even finished saying it, she was up on her feet, trying to get over. She slipped again, but just in front of it, pulling out a cell phone.  
"I didn't come home a few days ago! My parents must think I was kidnapped or something!"  
"Oh." I felt sorta stupid for not thinking of that. I peeked over her shoulder.  
37 new messages from her mom, 34 from her dad, 13 from someone named Fate, 21 from a Galileo, 17 from an Aria, and 6 from a Bianca.  
I leaned back, waiting for a few minutes before she was done.  
"Waddid ya tell them?" I asked.  
"That the Underland is real," she said, pausing for a minute, then burst out laughing when she saw my face. "I told them I went with my aunt to Cali, and she told me she'd asked, but apparently hadn't, idiot."  
"You musn't call the Warrior an idiot!" said Luxa angrily.  
"It's okay; it was sorta stupid to believe that," I said.  
Halley nodded, smiling, almost like she was saying 'thank you'.  
"So, as you were saying, who is this Susan Collin?" asked Luxa.  
"A famous author who just had a movie made on another book she wrote. And it's Suzanne Collins."  
Crap. It's like Halley knows! But she couldn't, not unless she knew Mrs. Cormaci.  
"What are you thinking, Gregor?"  
she asked.  
Crap.  
"What do you know, warrior boy?" said Ripred.  
Crap.  
"Gregor. Tell me. NOW." Luxa glared at me.  
Crap.  
"It's not my fault!" I blurted.  
"What did you do?" Halley asked suspiciously.  
"Well, um, you remember Mrs. Cormaci?"  
"Yeah..."  
"Well, she played cards with some ladies she knew sometimes…"  
"Oh, no… One of them was Suzanne Collins, wasn't it?"  
"Maybe."  
In perfect unison, they all said: "GREGOR!"  
"I said it's not my fault!"  
Halley sighed. "I guess you're right… but so help me, when my legs start working, I'm a black belt, so you better not do it again!"  
I laughed.  
"Gregor?" Luxa whispered. "What would a 'black belt' be exactly?"  
"Explain later."  
"Would someone help me get back up?" Halley said.  
Everyone laughed at that.  
"No, seriously," she said.  
Somehow, I got the feeling her honesty would make for a lot of funny comments.  
About five minutes later, we actually managed to get out of there with minimal laughing attacks.  
According to Gina, who had popped in about 20 seconds after Halley's "No, seriously," comment, she should be back on her feet tommorrow, and, though actually whispered more pointedly at me, ready to train.  
"Don't get too attached to the girl, boy," Ripred said to me in the hallway, after Luxa had run off to do some queen thing (and that's quoting her!). "Remember the prophecy."  
"How could I forget?" I said, although I actually had.  
Who could blame me if I wished all the prophecies could go die in a hole?  
Who could blame me if I wished all the prophecies could just disappear and leave all the teenagers doomed to fulfill them alone?  
Who could blame me if, even though it's not really possible, I wished this one was wrong?  
Because, if this one was right, it spelled certain doom for many people I care about.  
Even someone I'd just met.  
Even if that someone I didn't much know.  
Especially if that someone had the name of a certain comet.  
Especially if that person was Halley.


	6. HIATUS MESSAGE

Okay guys, I'm really sorry to all my followers, but I havent updated in like almost a year- and I seriously have no idea where to go with this. If you really want me to continue, you're going to have to wait a fair while until I get done with some other stories. This is frankly failing to hold my attention long enough to continue. I have a lot more ideas that are giving me more excitement than these, and I am so stuck. Until then, though- I hope you'll forgive me, and... well, I guess temporary goodbye! Thank you all for being great fans! I hope we will write with each other again soon! Until then, though- I bid you adeou!

Au Revoir,

RowanAsterCode


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